Catalina BioTech is developing R&D programs employing proven technologies for breeding more disease-resistant seaplant and shellfish with more vigor for better health and accelerated growth including improved tolerance to abiotic stresses exacerbated by climate change.
Seaplant Improvement Program: Most regions rely on seed that has been in circulation since the seaplant industry beginnings in the 1970’s. Strain fatigue, essentially a “decline in seedling vigor”, occurs when a parent plant is over propagated without undergoing sexual reproduction and the introduction of fresh genes. Productivity declines due to deteriorating quality of seedling material after the old stock had been used continuously for vegetative production for over ten years. Monocultures resulting from this form of propagation also leave seaplant farms highly vulnerable to disease. It is probable that productivity of a seaplant region will begin wane in the future without a genetic intervention program. Genetic development of strains to better tolerate temperatures and disease will help the seaplant industry adapt and continue to grow in the face of climate and related environmental changes.
Superior Shellfish Program: A breeding program for bivalve shellfish is particularly promising for producing genetic gains based upon their relatively high fecundity (prolific spawning) and heritability (ability to pass on economically important traits). These factors, combined with short generation intervals and recent advances in genome sequencing, promise to produce higher performing shellfish. The science is based on principles that have been developed over thousands of years with plants and farmed animals and now accelerated by digital technologies. There is no genetic engineering; only the adaption of recent scientific shortcuts to eliminate undesired genetic characteristics rather than breeding for desired traits.
Cryopreservation Program: The selective breeding program will include the ability to freeze (and thaw) cells or embryos at a variety of developmental stages: sperm, oocytes (eggs), and larvae. The ability to reliably cryopreserve sperm and oocytes affords additional advantages in the effort to generate the new breeds that will be needed to maintain production efficiency in the face of climate change and ocean acidification.